entomophagy (thing)

Entomophagy is the practice of eating insects. This is a rather repulsive concept to most people in western society, but is actually a fairly common practice in other cultures.

It's easier to eat insects than it may seem; you probably have already inadvertently eaten many, as they are often accidentally processed into foods like bread and juice. Also, insects will occasionally fall into your mouth as you sleep (spiders, too!). The real test of squeamishness is the decision to eat insects by choice.

There are a lot of reasons to enjoy insects as food. They are typically high in protein and low in fat. They take up a lot less space than cows, and are more efficient at processing their food, so you get more protein per unit vegetable product consumed. Also, insects taste good!

The easiest way to try out insect consumption is to find someplace that sells chocolate covered insects. It is pretty easy to find chocolate covered ants and crickets. A chocolate covered insect is a nice way to try entomophagy without a lot of commitment. If the chocolate insect goes well, and you want to try more, then by all means, get some bugs* and try out some recipes!

* Find out how to obtain and prepare insects the right way before jumping into entomophagy. There are plenty of resources online that give very complete instructions for how/where to obtain and prepare your insects. Happy eating!